Courtesy photo
Ben Wheeler and his friend, Avielle Richman, were both killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December last year. Ben’s dad, David, was a 1978 Oyster River High School graduate. Now, the Oyster River community is fundraising for a foundation to stop such tragedies in the future.

DURHAM — Events will be held here and in Portsmouth to raise awareness about gun control and to honor victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Conn, last December.

Today in Portsmouth, volunteers with Organizing for Action New Hampshire and Mayors Against Illegal Guns will hold a gun violence prevention event in Market Square at 9 a.m.

Then, next month, an online auction will help raise funds to honor a young boy who father graduated from Oyster River High School in the late 1970s.

Organizers for today’s Market Square event said in a email that “it’s time for leaders on Capitol Hill to listen to the voices of their constituents and expand background checks to help protect our children and our communities.”

Earlier this year, several proposals aimed at curbing gun violence failed in the U.S. Senate.

Organizing for Action is the reinvention of President Barack Obama’s campaign organization. The group was established to “support President Obama in achieving enactment of the national agenda Americans voted for,” according to the group’s website.

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Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was co-founded in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, works to keep “dangerous guns out of illegal hands,” according to the group’s website.

Organizers for the today’s event invite all community members to attend.

Then starting next month, from July 25 through Aug. 9, alumni of Oyster River High School’s class 1977 and class of 1978 will hold a nearly two-week long auction to raise funds in honor of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Ben Wheeler.

Ben’s father, David Wheeler, graduated from ORHS in 1978.

“The alumni of Oyster River High School are a very tight knit community. When former classmate David Wheeler lost his son Benjamin in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the community automatically wanted to help,” the alumni said in a press release.

The group is using BiddingforGood.com to stage its fundraising auction. The website, which asks users to “shop for a cause,” provides a platform for cause-oriented organizations to hold Internet-based auctions for a fee.

The funds raised will go to the Avielle Foundation, which was established in the memory of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Avielle Richman, a classmate of Ben Wheeler. The foundation seeks to fund psychological research that can help uncover the mysterious triggers of malevolent behavior while also working to foster a general sense of community.

To participate in the auction, potential bidders simply need to log on to Biddingforgood.com/AvielleBen on or after July 25 to browse the products in the auction.

The group is also seeking donations for the auction and asks that all donated items be sent to Clearly Creative, 1181 Elm St., Manchester, NH, 03101.